Saturday's Excerpt from Business Or Pleasure by Ashley Ladd #MFRWauthor

Blurb:

Guy Rogers is extremely attracted to his new realtor, Tom Beaudreaux. As a passionate vegetarian and animal activist, he’s ecstatic that Tom is a kindred soul. He could never be with a carnivore. Unfortunately, Tommy isn’t really a vegetarian or animal activist. He never said he was either, he just didn’t eat meat when he was with Guy. And maybe he emptied his house of all meat and dairy products before inviting Guy over. In fact, Tommy’s family owns the most popular barbecue restaurant in town and if his family has their way, he’ll manage the new location.

When Guy finds out that Tommy eats meat and his family owns a restaurant that is a monument to eating meat, he’s livid and doesn’t know if he wants anything else to do with Tommy.

But then Guy’s life gets crazy –his dad’s paranoia blossoms into violent dementia, he gets arrested for picketing a doggy mill, and then he winds up in even more legal trouble. When Tommy sticks by him through all his trouble and does everything he can to help him, Guy wonders if he’s been too militant and narrow-minded. Perhaps he can learn to live with people who have opposite views.

Excerpt:

Gunshots rang out as they turned onto Guy’s street.

Tommy looked at him and mouthed, “Shit! You don’t think…?”

“I hope not. I don’t know.” Guy pressed the gas pedal to the floor and the car shot forward, fish-tailing.

Tommy fisted the door, hanging on tight. “I hope we’re wrong.”

Guy’s intuition told him he wasn’t. His knuckles turned white they held the steering wheel so tightly. Unafraid for himself but scared for his dad, he pulled into his driveway and jumped out of the car, with Tommy close on his heels.

The woman next door ran outside screaming, tearing out her already tattered hair. She pointed at her front door. “Your father’s shooting up my house and is holding a gun at my dad’s head. He’s going to kill him. You’ve got to do something.”

Tommy yelled as he began dialing on his phone, “I’m calling the police.” As if on cue, police sirens blared in the distance and grew louder by the second.

“I’m going in. I have to stop him.”

“Wait for the police. Don’t put yourself in danger,” Tommy ordered forcefully.

“I have to take the chance. He could kill someone before the police get here. I can’t let that happen.” He put himself in harm’s way for animals, so certainly he could risk his life for his own father and other fellow human beings. He had no choice. It would be his fault if someone got hurt.

So he ran through the open door flailing his arms, hoping he would be in time. “Dad! It’s Guy. Don’t do anything. I’m here. You’ll be okay.”

“He’ll be okay? What about me? He’s got a shotgun pointed at my head threatening to blow it off,” the elderly neighbor cried.

Buy Links:

https://www.totallybound.com/business-or-pleasure

·         I hope to have more buy links before this posts – I’ll let you know

Author Bio:

Ashley Ladd lives in South Florida with her husband, five children, and beloved pets. She loves the water, animals (especially cats), and playing on the computer.

She's been told she has a wicked sense of humor and often incorporates humor and adventure into her books. She also adores very spicy romance, which she weaves into her stories.

How you can contact Ashley:

chinara@aol.com

http://www.ashleyladd.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/ashleyladdauthor

http://www.twitter.com/ashleyladd

How She Does It featuring Ashley Ladd #MFRWauthor

We all know there are six elements of fiction. Who, What, When, Where, Why and How. I believe the first five lead to the sixth which for me is plot. What's your take on this?

 The six elements of fiction build the plot and interweave to create the storyline. It is the vehicle to transport the characters from point A to point B through a pattern of what, when, where, and why so that they eventually wind up at the end of the story with a plausible and pleasing ending.

1.       How do you create your characters? Do you have a specific method?

I write character charts with goals, motivations, and conflicts for each primary character. I also write down their physical characteristics, likes, dislikes, and everything else about them to keep everybody straight throughout the story.

2. Do your characters come before the plot?

Usually but not always.  In my July release, Cooking Up A Storm, I knew the characters would be competing chefs. Many of the other plot points came later as I wrote the story.

3. Do you know how the story will end before you begin? In a general way or a specific one?

 Almost always. I’ve written more than 70 books, so there have been a few where the precise ending eluded me for awhile. Spooky Sojourn, my upcoming October 23^rd release, is one of those.

4. Do you choose settings you know or do you have books of settings and plans of houses sitting around?

Most of the time I choose settings I know very well. Since I’ve lived in South Florida for twenty five years and it’s considered a romantic vacation destination, I set a lot of my stories here. Recently, I set a story in San Francisco where I honeymooned . At the moment, however, my wip is set in Seattle and I’ve never been there.

5. Where do you do your research? On line or from books?

Mainly online from pictures and descriptions. I visit many of the city’s official sites as well as many informal blogs to get information.

6. Are you a draft writer or do you revise as you go along and why? Do you sketch out your plot or do you let the characters develop the route to the end?

Recently I’ve been revising as I go along—to break writer’s block. Usually I have several scenes and most of the characters mapped out in my head before I start writing the story, but I’ll admit more also develop as I write.